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Paramilitary leader Pillayan remand extended again

The paramilitary leader Pillayan who is in detention over the 2005 assassination of TNA MP Joseph Pararajasingham has had his remand extended by the Batticaloa High Court.

The Batticaloa High Court judge adjourned the trial further until March 17, extending the remand of Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, formerly a deputy of LTTE defector turned paramilitary leader Karuna.

In October last year, Pillayan was visited in jail by current Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Pararajasingham, who was a senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) figure, and the MP for Batticaloa district, was shot and killed by two gunmen in the early hours of Christmas day 2005 whilst he was attending prayers at the St Mary's church in Batticaloa town.

(Above: Pillayan appears in court January 2018)

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